We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
That's what my check-out gal said to me today at Home Depot. I inquired "How do you know to say that to me?" She said "Honey, I can just tell."
"God bless you too," I said, although He obviously already did. She found a hole in a manure bag, and ran off to get some tape to cover it, even though I didn't care.
I spent $120 on cow manure, but I can get the bull's stuff "free" from the politicians which will cost me much more in the end...but it won't grow the stuff She Who Must Be Obeyed wants to grow. The BS from bulls - or cows - is far more useful to us, and smells better. I am mixing up a wholesome soil stew for boxes and planters.
Pansies first, then the really good stuff in a while, after frost season if global cooling gives us a break.
William Galston, Taking Liberty, in Washington Monthly:
"At a 1956 conference, Milton Friedman argued that a free market was the necessary foundation for societies in which individual liberty flourishes. What had begun as the precondition of freedom soon became its template: Libertarian conservatives redefined freedom as the right to choose and extended this understanding far beyond the market, to social relations and public policy.
These thinkers encountered a challenge within the emerging conservative movement, from traditionalists who focused on values such as order and virtue and who questioned the social consequences of the unfettered market. This tension was not in all respects an outright contradiction and thus proved to be manageable. In his classic Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman acknowledged that every form of social organization—including the market—relies on a framework of generally accepted rules, and that “no set of rules can prevail unless most participants most of the time conform to them without external sanctions.” Not only must participants internalize rules, he continued, they must also develop certain traits of character. These requirements are especially demanding in systems of liberty: Freedom can be preserved, he concluded, “only for people who are willing to practice self-denial, for otherwise freedom degenerates into license and irresponsibility.” "
The family has always enjoyed The Cloister on Sea Island for cozy, comfy getaways. We will miss the old Cloister which felt like home to us, but the new building has opened and it looks good (photo). Their relatively new "Lodge," where I have also stayed, is splendid, and its bar is huge and plain wonderful for an apres golf gin Martini or two.
Their azaleas will be in their full glory soon, if not sooner.
For decompression mental-health short and relatively inexpensive vacations (with great golf), it often comes down to a choice between The Cloister and Cambridge Beaches in Bermuda (assuming you know somebody with a Mid-Ocean Club membership).
Both places guaranteed glitz-free zones - leave your jewelry at home - and thus Maggie's Farm types of places. Pearls at dinner are OK, but no tacky gold.
We caughtanother bad guy. Where should these guys be stored, if not at the Guantanamo Resort? Is Australia still a penal colony?
Rescuing Bear Stearns. Looks like Morgan could end up owning them. With a little more consolidation of financial services, these guys will have no-one to trade with. After all, your Credit Desk makes nothing selling stuff to your own Distressed Desk - and that is the direction in which things are going. I am considering creating my own Distressed Credits Fund. Who is on board with me? Raise 300 million, buy up credits now, and sell it all off in about two years - then retire to full-time blogging and pursuing social justice - plus huntin and fishin. But I somehow doubt I could get the banks to extend me credit for the 30:1 leverage I want to do this right.
Rev. Wright: "The government lied about the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." Sheesh, what an idiot: Everybody knows that Cheney created AIDS to kill the gays, and that Cheney made Katrina to kill the blacks. (Got to keep your facts straight.) More Wright quotes etc at Gateway, including a UCC defense of the fellow.
Understanding engineers.
The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?" The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" The graduate with a humanities degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"
Verse 2 of The Burial of the Dead, from The Waste Land (entire poem here). You can hear Eliot reading the poem here. Worth doing. The words and rhythms of Waste Land have become part of our psyche, haven't they?
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu.
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?
'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
'They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Creative destruction, the economists call it. In an unfettered free market, livelihoods are always in jeopardy from the possibility that other demands or desires might supersede your desire to continue in your job for your entire life. I had a rough and tumble job for a long time: logging. It was hard work, sometimes dangerous, but I liked being out in nature, in the company of those like myself. And I wasn't a Johnny-come-lately to logging. I am the last in a long line of loggers in my family.
But technology, and the desire of many people who are concerned about the environmental impacts of my trade, keep such as I from working at the only thing I've ever known. The world has moved on, and I must accept that.
It's not that bad really. I could have fussed and protested. Some of my former workmates still go out and log illegally; partly for their daily bread, but mostly I suspect because it is ingrained in their very being. I've moved on. I submit to the will of the greatest amount of people, who use as their instrument the hidden hand of the market to signal me to do something different now. Please do not judge my efforts too harshly; though it's unlikely I'll ever get much better, I try as hard as I can in my new chosen profession.
I tend to agree with Roy Innes Jr. (on Sean on the radio today) that the Rev. Wright is a bit of a shock jock. Maybe so, but, if so, not an amusing one.
I have two comments. 1. Imagine what whould happen if a white guy talked that way about any other skin-colored people. 2. I have only heard and read selected bits, but does that pastor ever talk about God?
Today, anybody of any color or background should be thanking their lucky stars if they ended up in the USA - no matter how they arrived here: slavery ship, Mayflower, a leaky schooner from Ireland or a leaky freighter from Sicily or China - or whatever. If you have what it takes to build the life you want, you have a chance to do it here.
The categorical imperative is little more than a fancy version of Do unto others, I think. The Rev. Wright needs to rethink his hatred.
This interesting Viamontes essay might be tough sledding for those without some knowledge of the brain, but it is of great interest to those who try to understand people. Neural Substrates of Psychological Change.
In this paper, Viamontes and Beitman consider their concept of the "default brain" which, it seems to me, is relevant to Freud's notion of regression - and the idea of developmental arrest/delay.
The adult executive functions (judgement, information, conscience, decision-making, delaying gratification, learning from experience, weighing consequences, etc.) of the mind, when interfered with, abandon parts of their functioning to their Default Brain, which operates on a more animalistic, gratification-and-survival level.
Many things can interfere with the achievement and maintenance of the adult executive functions: bad genetics, bad wiring, fear, low IQ, personality weaknesses, emotional problems, drugs and alcohol, illness, emotional trauma, lousy role models, plain old human frailty, etc. etc.: it's such a long list that it's always a wonder to me that so many folks function pretty well in life, well-above our inner reptile most of the time.
Dick Heller, a longtime resident of the District of Columbia, carries a handgun for his job as a private security guard. But at the end of his shift, he packs up the .38 revolver and stashes it in a vault. He would like to keep a gun for protection at his Capitol Hill home, where he has endured the sound of gunfire for years. But he can't, because D.C. law forbids it. "They give me a gun to protect them," he says of the government, "but I'm a second-class citizen when I finish work."
Actually, you were a second-class citizen in their eyes before. You were just allowed to have a gun to protect the first-class citizens.
"It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," from Bringing it All Back Home ...more of the lyrics of the abridged version on continuation page. A 2007 performance below.
"Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool's gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
Temptation's page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover That you'd just be One more person crying.
So don't fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
We think it's terribly unfair to single out Barack Obama for calumny for associating himself with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Junior's rather tame opinions. After all, I'm sure all right thinking Americans are still angry at the Roman Empire for killing black Jesus. Of course I'm terribly old school, and I'm still pissed at the Etruscans. One of them peed behind our pagan altar once and it left a stain. I demand multi-generational reparations, or at least they could make a modest gesture of remorse and buy us some Febreze for the tapestry we had back there. But I digress.
It's a sign of our corrupt and contemptible culture that we point out that shouting "We hate everybody that doesn't look like us and a lot of people that do, too." from the pulpit might be a somewhat less than generous worldview for a preacher, but only for the brown candidates' churches. What's Lily-White Clinton, doyenne of the Roman Empire (hell, she married Caligula) listening to in church? We've scoured the Intertunnels for evidence of the cackling cankled one's Sunday Service, and let me tell you brothers and sisters... It's explosive stuff. I give you: Hillary's Preacher.
We re-post this 2006 Dr. Bliss piece on the UCC because Obama's church, much in the news today, is UCC
Reasons to Quit the UCC
Bird Dog just faxed me an info sheet on the United Church of Christ, which his church, like mine in New Hampshire, is considering abandoning. If you aren't familiar with this organization, the UCC is an umbrella organization, created in 1957, which includes many Congregational, Dutch Reform, and German Reform churches. Because of American history, many of these churches are in the Northeast.
The Pilgrims were Congregationalists, and had been welcomed by like-minded Dutch churches when they fled Anglican (now called "Episcopalian" in the US) persecution by the English government in the late 1500s and early 1600s - a very trivial piece of history which resulted in a major consequence - our Constitution included the forbidding of a State-enforced sect. Of Christianity, of course, at the time. (Jews, in England, were tolerated and not subject to persecution, on the whole. Freud, genius that he was, happily termed that kind of thing "the narcissism of small differences" - we are more likely to make a fight with those with whom we have small differences than those with major differences.)
These churches have a unique history - they are bottom-up churches without hierarchy, in which the individual congregation itself choses, by vote, its clergy, its beliefs, its mission, the organizations they support, and its mode of worship. God is the only Boss, and understanding His will is a matter for individual prayer. That makes for a powerful individualistic tradition, and for the direct mankind-God link that we aspire to.
However, like many innocent and well-meaning non-profits, the UCC has been "captured" by theologically "liberal" and politically activist state and national HQs - and that is a very bad thing for many of the congregations that contribute money to the organization. The HQ people appear to have walked away from their theological support mission and done two things I do not like: 1. They have begun constructing dogma and, 2. They have become political operatives with political agendas. In other words, they are seeking power - theological authority and worldly power. That's fine for churches and denominations that wish to do so, but we don't.
For example, believe it or not, the Connecticut UCC actually has a lobbyist in Hartford taking all sorts of radical positions of which most contributing congregations are probably totally unaware, including opposing Charter Schools in alliance with the CT Teacher's Union! You can't find this on the website, nor will it be found in church bulletins. These activities are done in the name of the UCC congregations, on the nickel of God-seeking folk who dutifully, and often sacrificially, put their hard-earned dollars in the basket. (We have tithers in our church - always the old joke - "Before or after taxes?".) It reminds me of what unions do with their dues.
What happens when unwanted leaders try to lead, but no-one follows? Congregations are rebelling, or simply voting with their feet because of the political or just strange positions the HQs have been taking. It seems likely that many will vote with their feet, and form or find another umbrella organization to help with pensions, insurance, and publications.
As you can tell, I am strongly in favor of old family Congregational church's abandoning the UCC's leaky bucket, and it looks like we will. We will pray and vote! And it will not be Left vs. Right - it will be about what the role of a religious support organization is. Which, I believe, is to help mankind connect with God by helping churches with practical problems. The mission of saving souls is plenty big enough! D'ya think? (as my daughter would say).
2008 update: Both Bird Dog's and Dr. Bliss' Congregational churches voted to leave the UCC and to regain their independence.
Obama's pastor is too full of hatred to be in the ministry. He should move elsewhere before his anger gives him cancer or a heart attack. Maybe to Iran, where the government would share his views.
Honestly, this sort of thing is too despicable for me to write about. Yes, he has the American freedom - but does he appreciate it, and what it has cost, and how precious a gift it is? Apparently not. What else does he want? What more could anyone ask for in this life?
Rev. Wright hates me, I think. Hatred and ingratitude are not becoming in a clergyman - or in anyone.
In these 40 years, we have learned many things. We have learned that slogans about change are the same as change. We have learned that “do your own thing” is a principal worth inculcating into the very fabric of our lives. We have learned that how we feel is more important than what we do. We have learned that ideas do not have consequences — but are themselves consequences.
We have learned that our government is not to be trusted, that our country is not to be loved. We have learned that what our country can do for us is more important than what we can do for our country. We have learned that the government always lies; that the media is always truthful; that corporations are evil; that unrestricted license is good.
We have learned to be green, and to relish the obscene. We have learned that religion is patriarchal and oppressive; that social mores and morality are to be challenged and rejected; that “freedom of speech” means burning the flag, smearing Madonna with feces; immersing the crucifix in urine; being obnoxious, abusive, and vicious while never entertaining criticism or rebuttal.
We have learned not to think, but to feel; not to reason but to react; not to dialogue but to detest; not to take responsibility but to accuse. We have learned to bolster our self-esteem, and worship our self-gratification. We have learned that someone else should always pay; that we are entitled to whatever we want; that wealth and happiness are our birthright. We have learned that god is within; that our existence is a cosmic coincidence; that our purpose is self-aggrandizement and acquisition of money and power. We have learned that only the material is true; that spiritual principles and practice are but opinions; that there is no truth anyway, only narrative.
There is much we have not learned during our long advent...
Turdus in the snow: What an ugly name for almost everyone's favorite American Bird bird (except for the Ruffed Grouse), our good buddy Turdus migratorius. The Robin. We have small flocks of them all winter here, living on berries and old fruit, but they are on the move north now, and we see more - mainly flocks of males.
Yesterday I heard their spring song for the first time. Today we have snow and that spring song has been put on hold.
Did you know that they used to be hunted for food? And that they are really woodland thrushes who have found a way to adapt to suburbia?
I value his essay for two reasons: first, because he put into words something close to what I experienced many years ago and, second, because Mamet's cultural status might offer some folks "permission" to take a fresh look at their views.
Rumor has it that the 200 year-old Silvermine Tavern, in the very pleasant Silvermine area of Norwalk, CT, is for sale.
I lunched there many times, as a lad. You can watch ducks in the old millpond from the window. The style is "country elegant." As I recall, gents must wear a jacket and tie for dinner in the dining room.
They have won the prize for "Best Brunch in Fairfield County" for over 20 years. I'm sure they mean their Sunday after-church brunch.
My family referred to such cozy old inns as "sticky-bun" restaurants, or as "stuff-and waddles" because one tended to stuff oneself and waddle out.
I wonder if they still have sweetbreads on the menu. Yum.
(No, we are not in the real estate biz. It is just amusing for us to see what's for sale, occasionally.)
Sowell notes that the cost of incarceration in some states exceeds the costs of higher education.
The point, of course, is that when people (not Sowell) talk about those costs, they ignore the monetary and social costs of letting those folks loose on us. That's the fallacy. On the other hand, MA can send 'em all to Harvard for all I care, if they want to.
The Constitution, written by men with some experience of actual government, assumes that the chief executive will work to be king, the Parliament will scheme to sell off the silverware, and the judiciary will consider itself Olympian and do everything it can to much improve (destroy) the work of the other two branches. So the Constitution pits them against each other, in the attempt not to achieve stasis, but rather to allow for the constant corrections necessary to prevent one branch from getting too much power for too long.
Rather brilliant. For, in the abstract, we may envision an Olympian perfection of perfect beings in Washington doing the business of their employers, the people, but any of us who has ever been at a zoning meeting with our property at stake is aware of the urge to cut through all the pernicious bullshit and go straight to firearms.
Spitzerized. Eric takes a serious look at the subjects of prostitution, prosecutors, and hypocrisy. Megan McArdle reviews how Spitzer Spitzerized people as prosecutor. Scary.
That's what my check-out gal said to me today at Home Depot. I inquired "How do you know to say that to me?" She said "Honey, I can just tell." 
The family has always enjoyed 
Lying Hillary: Sullivan calls her
Obama's ideas about 
This interesting Viamontes essay might be tough sledding for those without some knowledge of the brain, but it is of great interest to those who try to understand people. 
Spitzer and Obama: "Non-judgemental nonsense." 
Reasons to Quit the UCC
Rumor has it that the 200 year-old